JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: "....the Federal Election Commission filings for her PAC, the SarahPAC show is that the vast amount of the money raised and spent in the last election cycle was on consultants. It did not go to candidates.

In fact less than $300,000 went to candidates. She spent more on her top consultant than she did in all the candidates she doled out money to. ..... When people give money to these political action committees, they think they're getting political action. What they're really doing is feeding a whole subcategory of consulting industry out there, a partisan economy."

BLITZER: What were the consultants doing over there? What were they working for?

AVLON: ".....I thought the whole point of grassroots outreach is that you didn't need a consultant to tell you how to do it, especially from Sarah Palin's perspective. ..... . But the big picture, very little (INAUDIBLE) of the money -- millions that Sarah Palin raised through her SarahPAC ended up going to candidates. The vast majority of it went to consultants."

BLITZER: How much influence does she really have these days within the GOP?

AVLON: It's diminished. .... But there's no question, Sarah Palin is an influencer, especially in the conservative populous movement. She's very popular among the base. And now she's trying to present herself as this kingmaker, as you said. ...... So it's a reminder of a great quote by Eric Hoffer, which is all great movements begin as a cause, it become a business, and they end up as a racket, well, we're somewhere between business and racket right now.

"Avalon misses, not understanding that PACs are required to measure and assign value not only to all expenditures, but efforts in-kind, and anything that can legally be defined as electioneering must be reported as an expenditure. This is poor journalism at best, while we may suspect it as a malicious attempt to punch up. Avlon needs to do his homework before opining."

You really ought to get out more. SarahPAC is limited to donating a maximum of $5000 per candidate per election, but those contributions are but a very small part of what a Palin endorsement does for a candidate.

We don’t contribute to SarahPAC because we want her to pass the money along to candidates. We contribute to SarahPAC because we appreciate the work that Sarah does and we know that SarahPAC does have expenses which support her works to renew our republic. When Sarah endorses a candidate, many of us will send the candidate a few dollars which we probably wouldn’t have sent had she not endorsed him/her.

Avlon’s problem is that he framed his premise on the notion that the money given to a PAC is supposed to go directly to candidates. It’s not - the purpose of the SaraPAC is to support good candidates, but more importantly, to promote and support good IDEAS!

I would view SarahPAC more as an NRA type organization promoting freedom and the constitution, as opposed to a funnel that channels money to candidates wholesale. It is not the RNC nor the DNC.

28
posted on 03/31/2013 11:20:59 AM PDT
by meyer
(When people fear the government, you have Tyranny)

As far as I'm aware, SarahPAC had nothing to do with that endorsement.

Had Palin not endorsed McCain in his re-election bid, she would have (rightfully) been judged as an ungrateful wretch for the rest of her days. As badly as it hurt her with some conservatives, it was the only logical choice she could make, and still remain viable in national politics.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Sarah repaid McCain in full and with interest, with her 2010 endorsement. She no longer owes that man the time of day, or even a return phone call.

34
posted on 03/31/2013 12:14:19 PM PDT
by Windflier
(To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palins SarahPAC has donated money to the campaigns of Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Orrin Hatch of Utah, as well as to Republican Ohio Senate candidate Rob Portman, according to a Friday filing with the Federal Election Commission.......

It had already been widely reported that SarahPAC contributed to Senators John McCain and Lisa Murkowski. Former Governor Palins PAC recently had to reduce its donations to each those campaigns from $5,000 each to $4,800 each in order to qualify as a multi-candidate political action committee, but the technicality has now been satisfied:

_________________

“Sarah repaid McCain in full and with interest, with her 2010 endorsement. She no longer owes that man the time of day, or even a return phone call.”

Agreed! Let me know when she actually says she is opposed to anything the old fool does or supports.
I’m still hoping. And waiting.

36
posted on 03/31/2013 12:33:03 PM PDT
by AuntB
(Illegal immigration is simply more "share the wealth" socialism and a CRIME not a race!)

The top endorsement in America, the greatest force for conservatism since Reagan.

Palin gave us Cruz, she gave us our only senate seat pick up in 2012 when the rest of the GOP was going down in flames, and when we think of almost all the bright lights in the GOP, in the Senate, the Congress, the Governor houses, who dominate the news today, we think of Palin.

38
posted on 03/31/2013 1:34:43 PM PDT
by ansel12
(The lefts most effective quote-I'm libertarian on social issues, but conservative on economics.)

Let me know when she actually says she is opposed to anything the old fool does or supports. Im still hoping. And waiting.

If you pay attention to Palin's positions at all, then you already know that she stands in the opposite corner to McCain on a host of issues.

If you're waiting for her to come out and publicly denounce McCain by name for one of his positions, you might be waiting a while. She rarely takes a Republican politician to task by name, though she sure does rake their policies, agendas, and performance of their duties over the coals.

In that wise, she's not unlike many of the conservative politicians who draw admiration around here. In my view, they refrain from personally attacking Republicans because it only aids and abets our avowed enemies. I'd love to be a fly on the wall when they say how they really feel.

39
posted on 03/31/2013 2:32:37 PM PDT
by Windflier
(To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)

13 posted on 3/31/2013 10:00:51 AM by oincobx: “Six cents out of every dollar SarahPac received in the 2012 election cycle went to actual candidates. The better move is to give to candidates directly and not to the PACs.”

There's a lot of truth to that, and not just with regard to Sarah Palin.

If your goal is to help a candidate, give to the candidate.

If your goal is to help an organization because you believe in that organization's goals and think it is effectively accomplishing them, give to that organization.

Both types of giving are legitimate.

23 posted on 3/31/2013 11:57:15 AM by RefudiateObama2012: “You really ought to get out more. SarahPAC is limited to donating a maximum of $5000 per candidate per election, but those contributions are but a very small part of what a Palin endorsement does for a candidate. We dont contribute to SarahPAC because we want her to pass the money along to candidates. We contribute to SarahPAC because we appreciate the work that Sarah does and we know that SarahPAC does have expenses which support her works to renew our republic. When Sarah endorses a candidate, many of us will send the candidate a few dollars which we probably wouldnt have sent had she not endorsed him/her.”

This comment is exactly right. A Sarah Palin endorsement says candidate so-and-so is someone who shares values similar to her, and that gets other people to give money and support. I have no problem with that, though I have several problems with several of her endorsements. Frankly, I wish she had **MORE** consultants to give her better “on the ground” intel on what some of the people she is considering endorsing are doing.

Palin is trying, with some success, to create a counterweight against RINOs in the Republican Party. She's also trying to keep herself relevant in politics to preserve her own political options.

There's nothing wrong with that. Just be sure you know what you're doing before you mail the check.

What absolute nonsense. Just another hit piece against Governor Palin, trying to convince people that everything in the world is okay just so long as The Ruling Class keeps destroying the Constitution and ripping us off. Sarah Palin is the Real Deal and she speaks the truth. Period. She wasn’t railing against all consultants in general, only the moderate elitists who’ve ruined the Republican brand. People like Karl Rove have only a 1% success rate with his candidate’s endorsements versus Palin’s 75%. The woman is smart, influential, and CONNECTS with people whom deeply care about this country.

I know you are not that stupid. So the only conclusion one can come to is either you didn’t watch the video, you don’t have a clue who was in that video. Or like most LOW-Information Voters on the LEFT, if we are not talking about POTUS, then politics is too insignificant to concern me. Regardless of the reason your conclusion is SAD. To say Palin spends her time just building up her own image, is like saying Mother Teresa was in it for herself.

For one second do any of you on the LEFT think if Palin felt she wasn’t making a difference she would be doing what she is doing? What is in it for Palin, just to have her name out there? I understand completely if you are Fox News and/or a member of the Republican Establishment, the threat Palin brings (if she ran 3rd Party, the Republican Party would be finished), so I understand why they would do everything they possibly can to destroy her. First they tried the debasing (anonymously if they thought it would work), then they stopped her from speaking, then finally they refuse to bring her name up, even though she clearly has the largest following on the political RIGHT. We wouldn’t be reading about her or talking about her if she wasn’t.

This is just another article by a writer who is either clueless (because he doesn’t do his homework) or a hit job by someone whose allegiance is to the Republican Party. Palin has as many options as any leader in politics, and better opportunities to succeed than nearly all others. Those that don’t believe this are listening to the wrong voices. Check out those crowds in the video, that should clarify my message.

She is a threat to the status quo. Hence, the four years of non-stop bashing from the GOP Elite, the DNC, Hollywood, overpaid consultant talking heads on television, and yes, major media. Well guess what? She is still standing. You have not heard the last from Sarah Palin.

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